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LOCAL POWERLESS VS. RICE PROFITEERS; HOUSE LEADER: NOT TRUE DA:FIVEWE'RE HOLIDAYS IN OCT.
THE Department of Agriculture said the regulatory powers of the National Food Authority must be restored to allow it to regulate rice traders and bring down prices of the staple grain. “In the past, rice traders were required to register with us. Since the
NEWS / A3
ISRAEL CONTINUES TO POUND HEZBOLLAH WORLD / A6
NFA does not have regulatory powers anymore, we cannot revoke their license to operate if they engage in unfair practices,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel said. Tiu Laurel said when the Rice Tariffication Law was passed in 2019, the
NFA powers were limited to managing buffer rice stocks. “Previously, the NFA was also allowed to import so we can intervene if there is shortage. That is no longer the case. So it would really be a big help Next page
VOL. XXXVIII • NO. 227• 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P20 •MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2024 •
PNP resurrecting probe into PCSO official's slay PNP told: Run after child abusers, private armies T VOL. XXXVIII • NO. 301• 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P20 •FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2024 •
STELLA QUIMBO
Speaker grateful for PMA Class '83 vote of confidence in Quad Comm
By Rio N. Araja
HE Philippine National Police (PNP) is reopening its investigation into the 2020 murder of Philippine Charity By Vince Lopez Sweepstakes Office (PCSO)RESIDENT board secretary ordered WesleyMarcos Barayuga. the Philippine On Sunday, PNP Chief Police National Police to General Rommel Francisco Marbil said he ordered the reopening of focus on combating the cold case after whistleblower childLt.exploitation and told Police Col. Santie Mendoza the House Quad Committee cybercrime as well that he helped carry out the killing at the as securing thegeneral 2025manager behest of ex-PCSO Royina Garma. midterm elections.
Marcos also orders cops to intensify anti-cybercrime efforts
P
Mendoza narrated before congressmen how Garma allegedly faMr. Marcos gave the directive durcilitated the PCSO official’s roadside ing a command conference with PNP's assassination on July 30, 2020 by top brass the in Camp Crame in Quezon providing necessary information City yesterday. about his schedule, details about his “TheandPresident stressed that to no vehicle the funding necessary crime is worse than the exploitation carry it out. ofThe children, urging thealso police force to whistleblower implicated intensify efforts in protecting the youth incumbent National Police Comfrom all forms of abuse and exploitamissioner Edilberto Leonardo in the tion. Thisof aligns with his administraplanning the murder. tion's commitment safeguarding Barayuga was a toretired police vulnerable sectors of society,” the PNP general and lawyer who supposedly said in a statement. threatened to expose corruption with“Recognizing alsobefore the he growing in the PCSO shortly was threat in the digital landscape, the shot dead in Mandaluyong City. President underscored the ex-police importanceLt.of Garma, herself an equippingallegedly the PNP with the necessary Colonel, gained the top skills and tools to combat cybercrime spot at the PCSO because of her ineffectively.” Next page The commander-in-chief likewise ordered the PNP to boost its campaign
PAGASA
Gov’t readies P1.48b aid as 'Julian' strengthens
FRANCISCO TIU LAUREL
THE government has readied P1.48 billion worth of aid for communities that may be hit hard by typhoon ‘Julian’ which PAGASA says could turn into a supertyphoon. As of 5:00 PM on Sunday, PABUSINESS / B1 Cyclone GASA raised Tropical Wind Signal No. 3 over Batanes and the northeastern portion of Babuyan Islands. “’Julian’ is forecast to continue intensifying over the next 24-36 hours as it moves towards Batanes and/or Babuyan Islands. With the current trend in its intensification, the possibility of reaching super NEWS / A2 typhoon category is not ruled out,” PAGASA said in its advisory. Meanwhile, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said that a total of 1.9 million family food packs worth P1.48 billion, other food items worth P276 million, and non-food items (NFIs) worth P919 million were already prepared by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). Some P171 million in standby fund is also available for utilization by the DSWD, including P123 million which can be allotted as Quick Response Fund (QRF) in the central office of the DSWD. In Batanes, the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) advised residents to secure their roofs and install window shutters as Typhoon Julian is expected to make landfall
BIR TO CHARGE PWD, SENIOR ID FAKERS
MOST PINOYS SAY LIVES BETTER NOW AFTER PANDEMIC
Next page
A WEB OF CRIME? House leaders Aurelio Gonzales and David Suarez presented this matrix during the last QUAD Comm hearing which shows the operations of a criminal syndicate allegedly led by fugitive Michael Yang, then economic adviser of former President Rodrigo Duterte, that controlled the illegal activities of the POGOs and was involved in the drug trade and extrajudicial killings.
Yang's lawyer mocks probers amid heated inquiry
THE legal counsel of Chinese adviser of former President Rodrigo of illegal drugs and illegal activities businessman Tony Yang sought to Duterte. associated with POGOs,” Suarez said COMMAND CONFERENCE. Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. presides disparage lawmakers’ conclusions President Fortun, a lawyer who often finds overin a mixture of Filipino and English. a command conferencesupposedly attended by top officials Philippine Police (PNP) The solons explained how the about his client’s himself ofatthethe center National high-profile yesterday today at the PNP Multi-Purpose Center in Camp Crame, to provide strategic matrix guidance sketchy past and his alleged ties cases, apparently sought to mock details Yang’s connections to on key law enforcement and public safety initiatives. Inset shows the President being escorted with Philippine Overseas Gaming congressmen, calling their probe other individuals involved in illicit by PNP Chief Rommel Marbil into the Center. PCO Next page Operators (POGOs) and even “unacceptable.” activities, including the operations of organized crime. However, House members argued illegal POGOs. Lawyer Raymond Fortun they did not come by their suspicions Among the companies implicated questioned the House Quad about Yang recklessly. are Brickhartz Technology Inc. Committee’s impartiality and its On Friday, Senior Deputy Speaker and Xionwei Technology Co. Ltd., ability to pin Chinese national Yang Aurelio Gonzales Jr. of Pampanga which are being linked to alleged down for ay wrongdoing in a real and Deputy Speaker David Suarez of kidnapping. criminal court. Quezon presented a matrix showing The two firms supposedly “I am very interested in how they Yang’s first appearance and his have connections with the Baofu [Quad Comm members] can prove subsequent activities at the Quad Compound in Bamban, A TOP Department of JusticeTarlac, (DOJ) this criminal network in court. In Comm hearing. which, in turn, can be traced official called out Vicedirectly President Sara Congress, lawmakers act as both “We saw a pattern, and we tracked toDuterte’s disgraced ex-mayor Alice Guo. the taunting attitude towards prosecutor and judge,” he said. it to the top of these corporations... Duringjustice Friday’s country’s systemQuad and her Comm apparent Yang, who already admitted we stripped it of its layers , to get to hearing, lawmakers cited Tonyinto Yang predisposition to taking justice her having a fake Philippine birth the top and through it all, we have inown contempt for “lying” to about hands after she refused to attendhis ancertificate, is the brother of Michael discovered and identified at least two businesses and business partners. other appointment at the National Bureau Yang, a presidential economic main actors or players in the issue of Investigation on Wednesday.Next page GIFT GIVING. Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, Tingog Partylist Rep.Yedda Marie K. Romualdez, and Ako Bicol Partylist DOJ Undersecretary Jesse Andres Rep. Elizaldy "Zaldy" Co, in coordination with the doctors of Philippine Children's Medical Center (PCMC) led by Dr. Sonia Gonzalez, bring said the Vice President’s reluctance to joy to 130 young patients in a Christmas gift-giving event yesterday at the PCMC hospital in Quezon City. As part of Ako Bicol's "Paskong fully cooperate with the bureau’s ongoTarabangan", the event also included distribution of guarantee letters to the patients for medical assistance. The Speaker also announced that all the patients who took part in the event would enjoy zero billing, eliciting cheers from the audience. Ver Noveno ing investigation into death threats she openly made against President Mar-
DOTr’s Bautista says online news report‘unfounded'
PH lobbies UN for Security Council seat THE Philippine government on Sunday publicly called for the United Nations (UN) to give it a seat on the UN Security Council, highlighting the country’s strong record and dedication to upholding the rule of law. Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Enrique Manalo in a speech delivered at the UN General Assembly in New York said the Philippines continues to emphasize the “importance of upholding the rule of law and the integrity of the multilateral system in the face of today’s global challenges.” Quoted by reports, Manalo also cos, “The First Philippines Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos said: has consisand Speaker Martin the Romualdez tently pursued peace, sovereignonly serves to herrights of the and opportunity equality of deprive states, the digto avoid culpability. nity of all persons.” she only went to the isNBI, He"Ifadded that the country alsoshe could have given the correct recognized as the “first Asian context Reto her previous statement. I think she has a different view, that she actuNextcan page ally make good of her threat because in her view, justice is something we can take in our own hands instead of going through the lawful process," he said. Next page
VP should cooperate with NBI, not take law into her own hands–DOJ
PHOTO 3
Navy spokes debunks China claim of military exercises in Scarborough We have yourshoal back, Quad wants those behind 'monstrous By Rex Espiritu By Darwin Amojelar killings' during Rody's drug war charged gov’t assures Pinoy illegals in US BAUTISTA
TRANSPORTATION Secretary A LEADING member of the Jaime House Bautista denied an yesterday online news report Quad committee called for claiming that prosecution Malacañangofwas the criminal the angry “monwith thekillings” increase in airport strous that took fees placewithout during the the Cabinet members. theapproval Duterte of administration’s so-called “The Bilyonaryo article is maliwar on drugs. cious and unfounded,” Bautista said in a Viber message, referring to the website that published the said story. “Bilyonaryo is inconsistent,” he added. Bilyonaryo reported online that “Bautista and his long-timesecurity protegeanain RAY Powell, a maritime Philippine Airlines, for lyst and former USUndersecretary military, said ChiAviation and in Airports BobbyWest Lim,Philare na's actions the disputed atippine the center of the storm it was Sea (WPOS) could after be classified as "occupation." Next pageto Powell also urged the Philippines
THE Philippine Navy debunked on “We Sunday recent announcewill the recommend the prosecument by China that these it conducted tion of those behind monstrous military Bajo that de killings. Itexercises is my hope,off my prayer, Masinloc, also known as Scarborthese recommendations are followed ough Shoal, the isWest Philipthrough so thatinjustice served for the pine Sea (WPS). Next page China reportedly made the announcement coinciding with the fourth Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity between the Philippines, Australia, Japan, New andto prevent the United adopt Zealand, a new strategy further States within of Manila’s exclusive encroachment its territories. economic zone (EEZ) the Philre"[The] situation in theinWest gional over the weekend. ippine waters Sea is constantly evolving and Philippine Spokesperson today I would Navy really classify it as one for WPS Rear Admiral Roy NextVinpage
US analyst: PH must change tack in WPS strategy
cent Trinidad told reporters that Manila troops did not monitor any such activity, adding that Beijing’s statement was meant only for its internal audience. “Our troops did not observe any exercise, we have to underBy Rachelle Tonelada stand that sometimes, China is doing this for their internal audiTHE right? Philippine that ence, For Embassy them notvowed to look assistance and consular services will reweak and embarrassed,” Trinidad main accessible to all Filipinos in the US, said. regardless of their immigration Two Chinese warshipsstatus. were This statement comes after ranging Presidentmonitored at a distance elect Donald intent from eight Trump to 14 announced nautical his miles. to “deport all immigrants” in the US One of these went up to 1,000illegallyatover four-year term. yards thehis MMCA site but evenTrump also revealed take tually went away. “Itplans wasto not executive action on his first day in ofthreatening, just normal,” accordfice to end birthright citizenship, which Next Nextpage page
PHOTO 4 AWARD. Hans Sy, Chairman of the Executive Committee of SM Prime Holdings, was honored by the Philippine Retailers Association (PRA) with its Outstanding Filipino Retailers President Award for his visionary leadership in retail development. (From left to right): PRA Director and Director of SM Retail Jorge T. Mendiola, PRA GRAND WINNER. Street dancers of the ABC, CAA Inc. Elementary School Group) show off Vice President and President and COO of Golden, (The Penshoppe their and colorful costumes during theExecutive 19th Parol Street Dance Competition Alicevibrant T. Liu, SM Prime Holdings Chairman of the Committee Hans T. Sy, inPRA Las President Pinas City. The annual competition has become a part of Sports) the lifeRoberto of Las Pineros and Chairman of Quorum International, Inc. (Toby’s during the Christmas season.and The event was organized by the Villar Foundation led S. Claudio, and PRA Director President of Sportshouse Int’l. Leisure, Inc. and byproponent the spouses Sen.OFR Cynthia and Manny VillarC.and held at the Courtyard of Sipag of PRA President’s Award Mars Chua Villar. Lino Santos